Irene Chang
SIBU (May 22): Sarawakians who are hesitant to register for Covid-19 vaccination should be given a choice to choose of which available vaccine they want as recommended for their age group, said Bukit Assek’s assemblywoman Irene Chang.
She said since there are currently three vaccines available – Pfizer, Sinovac and AstraZeneca (AZ) – perhaps more people would sign up for the vaccination programme if they are given the choice of those three vaccines.
“This vaccine hesitancy needs to be addressed and resolved quickly as further prolonging the pandemic will contribute to spikes in cases and potentially giving the virus more opportunities to mutate,’ she said in a statement.
Currently, she said, the rate of those in the state who had signed up for the Covid-19 immunisation was still low.
“It has been reported that about one million of the targeted 2.08 million people in Sarawak have yet to registered, and in Sibu alone more than 90,000 have yet to register themselves to be vaccinated,” she said.
Chang said the state government should realise that even though all the three vaccines have good safety and efficacy rates, there were still many people hesitating because of their concerns about the side effects of certain vaccines.
She said this could be due to the lack of knowledge and awareness which may be caused by misinformation widely available in the social media.
“Although the government has to continuously do their part in educating and encouraging people to get vaccinated with the first available vaccine offered to them and to make sure of adequate and prompt supply of these vaccines, the state government should acknowledge and address this concern of those who are still hesitant,” she said.
Citing the vaccination programme carried out in Sibu on May 7, Chang said out of the 1,032 persons who had registered, a total of 176 persons did not turn up.
“Although some who did not turn up because they did not feel well or for some other reasons, there were some who did not turn up because they prefer another vaccine over the one which was to be administered on that day,” she said.
She said the government should create an environment where people have a choice to overcome the people’s fear and hesitancy in registering for the vaccination.
“This would help build trust in the vaccination programme and may also help more people to be mentally less hesitant to get themselves registered and vaccinated and to therefore achieve the 70 per cent target population faster.”
Chang said the health system in the state is already in a crisis and wide community vaccination is the last line of defence against the total collapse of our health system.
“If the government does not address and resolve the people’s fear and hesitancy caused by their inability to choose the vaccine which they are more comfortable with, then the vaccination programme is in the danger of failing if the target of vaccinating 70 per cent of the state population is not achieved,” she said.